Preparing for a diabetes consultation
Two weeks of readings and a shoebox of medicine boxes will tell the doctor more than an hour of questions. Here is exactly what to gather.
Diabetes is the largest part of this practice, and the consultations that go best are the ones where the patient arrives with evidence rather than impressions. 'It stays high' is a starting point. A fortnight of readings is a conversation.
Bring the numbers, not the summary
- Your last HbA1c report, with the date on it
- Fasting readings from the past two weeks
- After-meal readings from the past two weeks, noting how long after eating
- Any readings taken when you felt unwell, shaky or faint
- Your lipid profile, liver and kidney function if you have them
If you have not been keeping a record, start one now and book for a fortnight's time. Two weeks of honest readings is worth more than an appointment taken tomorrow with nothing to look at.
Bring every box
Every medicine you currently take, in its box, including the ones you stopped recently and the supplements nobody counts as medicine. Strengths get misremembered and brand names overlap — the boxes remove the guesswork.
Write down three days of food, honestly
Not what you intend to eat. What you ate, including the tea, the biscuit with it, and the second roti. Three days is enough to show a pattern, and the pattern is usually where the answer is.
Note roughly when you ate, too. The timing of meals often explains a reading that looks inexplicable on its own.
Come with your questions written down
People forget their real question in the room and remember it in the car. Write down the two or three things you most want answered — whether it is about insulin, about a reading that frightened you, or about something you were told by a relative — and bring the paper.
If you would like to hear how the doctor explains some of this beforehand, there are video guides in Urdu covering blood sugar, insulin and diet on this site.
Do not fast, skip a dose, or change anything before your appointment in order to make your readings look better. The doctor needs to see your ordinary weeks, not a prepared one — a flattering reading leads to a worse plan.